Day 13 - Friday, April 27 - A good ending to our day

Well our day started out with mixed news. We were happy to finally get a court date, but disappointed that it would keep us from our other girls for so long. Our facilitator stopped by the records office on the way to pick us up. She was able to convince them to issue Natasha's new birth certificate in Donetsk instead of her birth city. She was also able to convince the judge to waive the ten day waiting period following our court date. She has told us that both of these are miracles because they never agree to do this. However, we know that God has opened many doors for us throughout our journey. We also feel very blessed to have the facilitator that we do. She is an amazing woman who takes everything personally and will do everything she can for us and the kids.

Our facilitator picked us up and we went to the boarding school to pick up Natasha for the holiday weekend. We spent a lot of time talking to the boarding school director. Our facilitator explained our current situation with our court date, the waiting period, etc. We also talked about where we are staying, Donetsk Christian University (DCU). She explained that they have their own complex and provide English lessons to the community on weekends. They also have an elementary school on site, so Natasha would have kids her own age to play with. She also mentioned that they have their own boiler for heat. Heat in Ukraine is provided by hot water radiators. The boilers are operated by the city and have already been turned off. Water is also turned off for most of the night and isn't available after a certain time in the evening until the next morning. DCU has their own boiler and we still have heat, plus have access to water (including hot water) all day. The heat in the boarding school is the same as the city and has already been turned off. One of the many things the director said the boarding school could use was coats and blankets for the kids. We were painfully aware of this each time we picked up Natasha. She usually had at least two shirts on and her hands were so cold. We made a small donation to the boarding school and wish it could have been more. Anyway, the good news is that the director agreed to let us keep Natasha not just for the holiday weekend, but all the way to our court date!! The court date will officially make her our daughter, so she will no longer have to leave us and go back to the boarding school. In fact, she is playing downstairs with some other girls that live in the same building, one of which was adopted from the same boarding school five years ago (before Natasha arrived there). It was fun to watch her go play this evening, because she didn't want to earlier. She is already warming up to the kids & having fun. We feel very blessed to be staying here at Donetsk Christian University. Most people here speak both English & Russian. We are able to explain some things to Natasha through the people here & know that she understands. Before now we had to use the computer with the on-line translator. Which we know sometimes didn't translate just quite right because Natasha would wrinkle up her face & just look at us. We would re-word it & usually that was better. Although Natasha has been told that she is still "in school." One of the reasons her orphanage director said she could stay with us is that we were going to do our best at teaching her as much English as possible. Starting tomorrow at 9:00 am, Natasha and I will go to the beginners English class from 9:00 am - 12:30 pm. I am interested to see how that class works & hope I don't fall asleep in it. LOL. I am also looking forward to talking with the teacher and maybe he can direct me as to the best way to start teaching her English, so we already have a busy day tomorrow.

We feel that God has blessed us so much with everything He has given us, even though our court date is not as close as we would like.


Here are a few pictures from today. The 3 of us arriving at the University today.

Natasha when we showed her bed to her, which had one of her favorite stuffed animals on it, which we brought from home.

Natasha going through the clothes we brought for her.

Natasha looking through the "English" I brought for her to do.

Natasha all bathed & in her new Jamie's ready for bed. She loves to listen to the music on the cell phone.

Shauna, you are so funny. You and Georges bring sexy back. LOL. I miss your kisses also. Looking forward to them when I get home. If you say "freaking" one more time on this computer, I am going to come right through and smack you. And, NO, you have to wait till I get home & can watch Lost. You can't tell me. It would ruin something or they wouldn't have it on the show. Remember, it's a rule. You can't be mad at me while I'm in the Ukraine. O.K. Love you Shauna !! I don't think the judge is lying. We were just told that he is a very hard judge to work with. But, he did waive the 10 day waiting period because he is making us wait until May 15th.

Connie. With you on your super duper diet, you would make me look bad !!! Thanks for the prayers. I love you.

Michelle. I think group is tonight. Give everyone hugs from us. Tell Steve that this guy really irritates me at times. Example : page 3. LOL. No, page 294. The comment in quotations right before the Danish prayer. Was that really necessary ?? I didn't appreciate at all. And yes, our emotions are all over the place. So, thanks for the prayers. Maybe you guys could pray that I don't have a meltdown. (seriously)

Kendra. Oh my gosh. I didn't think anyone from BIOH was even reading this. You are the first to comment. I e-mailed Dr. McClain when Kelly was in the hospital & Susan said she can't seem to get on because it won't accept her password. That's why I had Bob write in the blog a day or two ago how to do it. I'm so glad to hear from you. Didn't realize you worked at the school. I'm so glad. (More spies). LOL. Thanks for the prayers.

Kelly. We are so glad you are home and feeling better. We miss you too. Luvs ya bear!

Kim. We are very glad you are doing so well in language arts. Keep up the good work. We are still watching all of your grades online. Sorry we won;t be home for your band concert, you will have to have someone tape it for us. Kelly and you need to try and post your comments on the last day listed, we would have missed them if you hadn't told me about them. We love you and miss you too.

Going to bed here,

Gotta get up for class in the morning :)

God Bless,

Bob & Gail